I remember raising my hand in 8th grade history in Mr. Dunn’s class and asking, “What were all the women doing? We never hear about what the women were doing.”
I got strokes for asking that question. I was also encouraged to find out the answer to the question since the history books ran low on accounts of exactly what the women were doing.
One way I have found out what the women were doing over the years has been through books written by women. Sometimes these books are stories like Sula by Toni Morrison, sometimes they are nonfiction like I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, sometimes these books are collections of short stories or poems.
Maybe I felt compelled to round up this list because I work with mostly women writers, who are also moms. Maybe I felt compelled to create it because my daughter will be going to high school in the not-so-distant future, and I want to be ready. For sure, I wanted to offer these ideas to my husband, an English teacher, to encourage him to include more women writers in his classes.
One thing is for sure: this list is not yet complete. I’d love for you to help me complete it by commenting in the comments section.
I decided to include a few contemporary best-sellers like Harry Potter and Twilight because I think that reading more books by women is better than not reading enough books by women.
So don’t feel like you have to stick to the most literary books. I have also tried to include some humor, because let’s face it, some of the early literature by women can get a little heavy if you don’t mix it up with some lighter stuff.
Keep in mind that this list is NOT only meant for high-school girls, it’s also meant for high school boys and high school teachers…and then offer your suggestions in the comments!
Also, please feel free to point out any errors I’ve made. Thanks for your help!
Check out these sources:
Erica Jong from The Nation article about which women writers deserve to be on a list of best novels
75 Books By Women Whose Words Have Changed The World from the Women’s National Book Association
500 Great Books By Women by Erica Bauermeister, Jesse Larsen, and Holly Smith.
Let’s Hear It For The Girls by Erica Bauermeister and Holly Smith
Novels
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Sula by Toni Morrison
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents Julia Alvarez
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Herland and Selected Stories by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (compiled by Barbara H. Soloman)
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Emma by Jane Austen
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Two Kinds by Amy Tan
The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Villette by Charlotte Bronte
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin
Desiree’s Baby by Kate Chopin
Anthem by Ayn Rand
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmerala Santiago
The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The Outside Boy by Jeanine Cummings
Wild Life by Molly Gloss
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
County of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
The Joys of Motherhood by Buchi Emecheta
The Slave Girl by Buchi Emecheta
The Diviners by Margaret Laurence
The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
Fever by Laurie Halse Anderson
Secret Keeper by Mitali Perkins
Copper Sun by Sharon Draper
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison
The Giver by Lois Lowry
My Antonia by Willa Cather
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Women Who Run With The Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, PhD
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Joy in the Morning by Betty Smith
The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion
The Border of Truth by Victoria Redel
The Keep by Jennifer Egan
Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
Yellow Woman by Leslie Marmen Silko
The Gaia Websters by Kim Antieau
Ammonite by Nicola Griffiths
Heartburn by Nora Ephron
Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin
Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel
The Fountain Overflows by Rebecca West
We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
Ten Little Indians by Agatha Christie
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko
Waterlily by Ella Cara Deloria
Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeannette Winterson
Dive by Stacey Donovan
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith
Summer by Edith Wharton
The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
Contemporary/Popular Fiction of Note
We Are All Fine Here by Mary Guterson
Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
The Divine Secrets of the Yah-Yah Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
I Don’t Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson
Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding
Eating Heaven by Jennie Shortridge
When She Flew by Jennie Shortridge
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling
Lark and Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Room by Emma Donoghue
The Way the Crow Flies by Anne-Marie MacDonald
Nonfiction
The Influencing Machine by Brooke Gladstone
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia E. Butler
The Gate To Women’s Country by Sherri S. Tepper
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks byRebecca Skloot
Biography/Autobiography
“Everything Had a Name” from The Story of My Life by Helen Keller
Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Writer’s Life by Pamela Smith Hill
One Writer’s Beginning by Eudora Welty
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
An American Childhood by Annie Dillard
James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon by Julie Phillips
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Gift From The Sea Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank
Bird By Bird: Some Instructions On Writing And Life by Anne Lamott
Short Stories
The Collected Short Stories of Dorothy Parker by Dorothy Parker
Ship Fever, Stories by Andrea Barrett
The Unknown Sigrid Undset (“Jenny” and other stories) by Sigrid Undset
“American History” by Judith Ortiz Cofer
“The Best Gift Of My Life” by Cynthia Rylant
“Women” by Alice Walker
“Ain’t I a Woman?” by Sojourner Truth
“Boys and Girls” by Alice Munro
“Nisei Daughter: The Second Generation” by Rose Furuya Hawkins
“Courage” by Anne Sexton
“Mushrooms” by Margaret Atwood
“A View From The Woods” by Flannery O’Connor
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
“Who Do You Think You Are” by Alice Munro
Poems By
Maya Angelou
Erica Jong
Emily Dickenson
Elizabeth Barret Browning
Jane Kenyon
Anne Carson
Christina Rossetti
Marianne Moore
Amy Lowell
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Adrienne Rich
Kay Ryan
Playwrights
Lillian Hellman
Laraine Hansberry
Suggest Books For These Authors
Please make book suggestions for these authors or any authors in the comments, below:
Simone du Beauvoir
Johanna van Zanten
Jane Smiley
Erma Bombeck
Louise Erdrich
Jane Goodall
Gertrude Stein
Anne McCaffrey
George Eliot
Judy Blume
Edna O’Brien
I am a veteran journalist, author and coach with over a decade and a half of experience and a wealth of techniques to share. I am focused on making the world a saner, more expressive place. I help folks become more creative for personal enjoyment, professional development and transformational growth. Whether you are a professional creative or hope to become one some day, I can help you embrace your personal strengths, explore your creative possibilities, and evolve incrementally into your most inspiring self. If you are ready to achieve creative consistency in your life and career, email me about monthly coaching calls. To learn more about increasing your creative confidence, please check out my online school. Stay tuned for ways to save money by becoming a Beta User for my next new course by subscribing to The Prosperous Creative. And don’t forget to get these blog posts delivered to your inbox, so you never miss a post. If you appreciate my work—school, products, blog and social media posts—you are welcome to make a contribution of any size at any time. Thank you for your support!